Personal Nurse
by MysticMew
Summary: Minako finds herself in hospital, waking up to the care of a very concerned nurse…


Title: Personal Nurse

Status: Alpha

Author: Matthias aka MysticMew

Email: Minarugmx.de

(Plot) Beta-reader: Ayrki

Rating: PG

Category: Romance, Short Story, Challenge Fic

Fandoms: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon

Pairing: Minako/Hotaru

Timeline: Two years after Stars (More or less unimportant, COULD be any time)

Summary: Minako finds herself in hospital, waking up to the care of a very concerned nurse…

Distribution: MSD (http:www.catstrio.de), Starsinlove-group ), ), Mediaminer ), ASMR ), Shoujo ). Anyone else, you can have it but please ask first, 'kay?

Disclaimer: Bishoujo Senshi Sailormoon belongst o Takeuchi Naoko, Toei (unfortunately) and Kodansha

Story Disclaimer: Copyright©2004 by Matthias Engel

Author's Note

This is just a short piece I did in… uh roughly ninety minutes. Kind of an answer to the monthly theme on our SiL list. Short but sweet, I hope. I didn't put much thought into it. Just a spur of the moment thing. Enjoy.

I opened my eyes and immediately let out a groan, being greeted by the standard furniture of what could only be a hospital. My mind was still foggy and I tried in vain to remember what had happened that could have brought me here of all places. There didn't seem to be any noticeable signs of greater injury. Nothing was hurting in an unendurable way… So what had happened?

"Look who's awake," a voice interrupted my mental analysis and prevented me from further trying to remember the exact cause of why I was where I was. The voice sounded awfully familiar and thus I turned my head to the other side, wincing slightly as a sharp pain flared through my right arm but that was momentarily forgotten as my eyes settled on the younger girl standing next to the bed. "Hi," Hotaru smiled and reached out with one hand to stop my attempt of turning completely around. "You shouldn't strain the arm."

"Ugh," I held my left hand to my face, quietly reasoning that the advice FELT reasonable enough. Only a bandage, not a cast… _Well, at least something_, I took stock of myself. I turned my head so that I could look at the raven-haired girl, noticing with more than a bit of admiration that the nurse outfit suited her quite nicely… Then again, everything seemed to these days. She had developed into a fine young woman over the last two years. Another age acceleration had set in slightly after Galaxia and the growth had filled our youngest member out in just the right places… _Gah, I must have gotten hit on the head too or something…_

I averted my eyes awkwardly. "Um… What happened? Kind of fuzzy up here, you know."

I could feel more than see the stern gaze directed at me. I've gotten a lot from Artemis over the years. I knew how a displeased look felt without needing to see it. "You miscalculated your landing point."

Huh? Miscalculated? Oh… I remembered training. Upon entering High School I had taken up volleyball again and had quickly worked myself to the top of the team. We had been training this afternoon… well, it had been afternoon then and there had a particular hard to get ball and I…

Oh.

Oh!

I had tried to reach an impossible attack with a quite… hazardous jump. I think I got it too but now that the fog up in my head was clearing the last thing I remembered was the wall on one side of the field…

Oops…

"Err…" I shifted a little under the sensation of displeasure directed at me and tried to divert attention. "What are you doing here?"

"I am working here with Ami-san. You KNOW that." Uh oh, I didn't think that was a good tone. Definitely not. Sounded more like really annoyed and… covering nervousness. _Hah?_ I dared to look back at the younger girl, steeling myself against the expected look and looked further, senses developed and sharpened over the years coming into play, even managing to slip underneath the usual cold shield Saturn veiled her emotions into. I found a confirmation of what I had thought to have instinctively picked up.

_Hmm, interesting._

The cross expression didn't change although I detected a certain uneasiness at the sudden stare. "You are lucky enough nothing was broken when you crashed into the wall. What were you thinking diving over half the field to reach a ball that had already left the field on the opposite end IN TRAINING?" I had the good sense to look chagrinned but couldn't help but notice the way Hotaru looked with her hands on her hips, trying to do the best impression of an upset, displeased family member who just tried to hide her worry.

"At least I have a cute personal nurse to take care of me," I said with a wink, effectively managing to draw a blush from the other girl. The comment was made casually enough so that anyone who did know me wouldn't think about any hidden meanings. The reaction though. The slight hesitation, the spark of confusion…

_Yes, definitely interesting._

"I have to be elsewhere too, you know?" Hotaru countered, yet it was obvious she didn't mean it, at least she didn't want it to.

"And how long have you been here?" It was a wild guess but if what I had sensed was true then… _Ah, another blush! How adorable._ Hotaru looked away and mumbled something, drawing a triumphant smile from my lips. "If it's not so serious, you could just heal it," I suggested, not able to keep the hopeful note out of my voice. I hated hospitals. They were driving me crazy with boredom. You could do nothing but lie around in your bed and maybe read… well, if you liked to read… I was an action girl and being confined to rest was one of my worst nightmares.

Hotaru crossed her arms, chin firmly set and eyes cold, baring no argument. "Not a chance."

"Why?" I asked incredulously. As far as I knew since her rebirth healing was taking next to nothing out of her. It would probably just be a little bit of a strain, if any at all.

"Because this is nothing Senshi-related." I pouted at that but the other girl was quick to add, "And besides, you have to learn from your own mistakes. Maybe next time you think before trying to pull a stunt like that." The tone of her voice was flat but I could still hear the concern leak through.

"Hey," I reached out with my good arm, putting a hand on the other girl's, "I'm fine." A wince somewhat killed the attempt of reassurance. "Well, I will be. You know me. Nothing can hold me down long enough." An inner battle was fought in the space of the next moments but the decision was nearly inevitable. I couldn't deny feeling a certain form of attraction to our youngest Senshi – in physical age at least. I wasn't sure how it had developed but somehow we had connected throughout and in between school, training and other activities. I couldn't say we had become best of friends but somehow we kept bumping into each other, ended up in the same training group, as sparring partners…

Purple eyes settled on me and I met the stormy, uncharacteristically unguarded feelings there with a soft gaze. There was an attraction there from Hotaru's end as well, I had always believed that to be the case but now, in this situation, I had gotten the proof I had looked for. Like many young girls Hotaru had a well-rounded star fetish and I had seen her the one or other time in some of the musicals I had performed in with the club that I had joined upon my second year. And I had only spotted her once or twice…

"You scared the hell out of me when you were brought in, I thought…" If it had just been idolization I would probably have shrugged it off and not acted on it. Things like that never worked out, made the experience myself often enough. Now there was enough proof to act on my own impulses. Frankly, this might be one of my only chances to find some ounce of personal happiness. I had long resolved that the only one I could allow myself to fall in love with was a fellow Senshi. Outside relationships had always ended in disaster. Trying to divide my attention and devotion between a lover and Serenity was impossible. It needed to be someone who understood that. Someone who wouldn't look odd, got jealous of Usagi or something like that, someone who could share the burden and who I could rely on to protect themselves if the choice ever came up between them and my duty…

"Gomen," I said at last, meaning it with all the honesty I could manage. I had already made up my mind that the stunt was just as stupid as unnecessary. "How about a compromise? You take me home and take care of me? Then you can be my real personal nurse? I'm sure Mizuno-san can spare you for the rest of the day?" I winked. Letting Hotaru see the emotions from my end.

The raven-haired girl let out a tiny gasp but the answer came softly, almost frightful of shattering the unexpected deep moment. "What kind of compromise is that? Is there something I get out of that solution?"

Tomoe Hotaru didn't have time to even think about a reaction to the mischievous grin spreading over my face. I had expected that reply and was prepared for it. With one smooth movement I had pulled her forward with one hand, sitting up slightly at the same time. It was just a small peck actually, rather playful and teasing. Nothing world-moving but warm and… good.

Promising.

Purple eyes looked at me dumbfounded but with a new sparkle to them. Wondrous, excited, daring to hope. "I'm sure we can think of something."

A couple of days later I would think back on that and the recovery process and realized that I still wasn't a great fan of continuing inactivity, having an apt distraction was very helpful. Maybe the entire thing was stupid and unnecessary but with an outcome like that I would have done it all over again had I known in advance this would happen.

THE END


End file.
